Programmable multi-source, multi-destination systems typically include a large number of channels which originate from multiple sources and are mapped to multiple destinations. For example, an audio system in a vehicle may include 24 channels that receive signals from multiple sources, such as a CD/DVD drive, a radio (e.g., AM/FM/satellite), and a telecom system (e.g., Bluetooth® or analog phone). The output signals from these sources can be sent to various destinations, such as multiple speakers where each speaker can have a different audio content. Each source and destination of these systems can carry multiple channels; each channel being carried on an exclusive section of the source or destination (e.g., section 0, section 1, . . . ). If each source and destination always carried the same number of channels, then mapping the channels from their sources to their destinations would be simple. However, in practice, the number of channels carried by any particular source and/or destination is programmable by the end user and varies according to the user specifications.
Therefore, to automatically map multiple channels from their sources to their destinations, each channel (of these systems) needs to identify its source and exclusive section on that source and its destination and exclusive section on that destination.